Nicole MacDonald's Blog, page 12

The challenges of being an Indie in NZ - and a solution for my Barnes & Noble/Sony/Apple readers! And a not so great update.

I actually wrote this blog post this morning. Since then New Zealand, Christchurch, has been hit with another swarm of earthquakes. Big ones too. I actually felt the ominous sway of the 5.8 and later 6 quake but was on the bus when the following two quakes hit. Both in the 5's and all four quakes were shallow, 10km or less. There's no such thing as a good time for big earthquakes, but I can't think of a worse time. My thoughts and heart are with Christchurch at the moment. For anyone wanting to see the latest updates, our national news site Stuff, www.stuff.co.nz is pretty good.
And here is the post I wrote earlier, I know there are readers out there waiting for this update, I've been getting the emails ;p
Awakening is doing really well currently and I'm quite excited! The first feedback is good and I look forward to both books climbing the charts at Amazon. Currently Awakening is in two top 100 lists in the US and three in the UK. Now just to get it on the overall top 100 *grin*As I mentioned in my last post I've made the decision not to publish through Smashwords. I find their 'meatgrinder' (the ebook converter they use) to be messy and a major pain in the arse and then the payments issue on top of it was it for me. But of course this means my books aren't distributed to Barnes & Noble, Sony and Apple. Because I'm in NZ I can't sign up with Pub-It that B & N has set in place which pretty much left me screwed.So I have been a busy little bee, researching away and I believe I can set up a PayPal button on this blog so that people can purchase my books here! I'll offer them in formats compatible for all other e-readers so that no reader will be discriminated against *grin*I will still continue to publish them on Amazon, but after trialing the Amazon Kindle Select, briefly, have decided that part is not for me. This won't mean anything to most of you, but for other indie's curious as to my decision - I didn't like that I wasn't allowed to distribute my own book as I liked. I've made the decision to be an Indie author and I'm sticking by it (unless I'm offered some horrendously massive payment in exchange… and even then, I'm reading the contract well! ;p) and I don't want to allow Amazon any extra rights over my work.I'm really excited about being able to offer my books on here and I'm hoping that I'll have the button up by Boxing Day, a slightly late Christmas present for some readers *grin*
Have a safe and happy Christmas everyone and please, no matter where you are in the world, have a survival kit and emergency plan for your family. You never know when a disaster will strike.
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon

The hard work is done! Awakening is released to the world (or web, at least ;p)

First things first, I need to thank the people who helped with the creating of Awakening, either as editors or beta-readers. SO an enormous THANK YOU to Kerrin, Vicki, Cathey and Trish! As well as Emily and Alex. All the help was much appreciated and the book is so much more the better thanks to your input.
I have made the decision not to publish it through Smashwords. I have had stack loads of trouble with their formatting and never actually received any cash from them. In short, it's not worth it for me to go to the effort of getting it up on there. That does mean Awakening is only available on Kindle. If you are a person who reads it in another format, get in touch. I'd be curious to see how many there are and if it is worth fighting through Smashwords. So please, do pop me a message via my contact button on the right and let me know if you're one of those readers : )
For those of you still waiting for Amazon to update your current version of The Arrival, I suggest emailing Amazon and requesting it. I've had several e-mails from readers who've done this and received the new version very quickly.
I'm nervous and excited to have my latest 'baby' out there and I hope very much you all enjoy it! And now I think I might go sleep for a week or so, before I begin plotting book three *lol* Merry Christmas everyone and have safe and happy holidays!
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon

Awakening is LIVE!

That's right, it's finally available. I am going to do a big 'official post' with links/thank yous/etc/etc but it's just before work and I have to leave shortly so I'm popping this up for those people desperate to get their hands (e-hands ;p) onto it : )

We have a blurb!

Let me introduce to Awakening, Book Two of the BirthRight Trilogy.




Be careful what you wish for…An innocuous love spell caused Catherine, Sian, Laura, and Kassandra to cross worlds in search of their soul mates. But more than love drew them to Gar'nyse. Truths are revealed and lives forever altered after an attack at the castle. An ages old feud between two archaic families threatens to tear the world they've arrived in apart. As the ultimate weapons in such a war the four girls are the only hope for peace.But one of them lies unconscious from the attack, and the destiny that awaits her when she wakes will change everything.
And for those patiently (and not so patiently..) waiting for this fabulous book *grin* as I've mentioned, it's with the most amazing (naturally!) line editor and she has promised to have it back to me soon!! Then I need to make the changes, give it another read through, and *GASP* it will be up!!! I'm pretty damn excited (did the numerous !'s give you any hint?) and am half fantasizing that it'll be up by next weekend *swoon* but things never go quite as planned so hopefully by the weekend after next : )
For those of you wanting the new version of The Arrival, I'm following up with Amazon re this, and it is available on Smashwords, in any format, for free.
Have a safe and fun weekend peoples!Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon

The time is approaching…

And it's scaring the crap outta me!! The Arrival has been fully reformatted/edited and now has the additions of a glossary and map. The make-over means it's much easier to read and register the POV changes, as well as a general 'sprucing up' to make it look far more professional (or so I hope). I'm logging on to Amazon KDP frequently, waiting to see when this new version actually goes live, OMG it feels like it's taking forever *grin*. It isn't (it's barely been 24 hours) but I don't care, I want it live NOW! I'm just itching to see people's thoughts on it. If you purchased a copy of The Arrival via Amazon, then you will - in the next 5 days - receive an email asking if you would like your version updated.Please let me know when you get this! I'd really love to know when it reaches you : ) For those of you that purchased it elsewhere, just get in touch via my contact button (bright yellow button in the right sidebar) and let me know which format you require it in and I'll send it out. Also, if you haven't purchased a copy and would like one, again, just send me a note via the contact button and I'll send a copy through. I can do all softcopy formats.Awakening is sooo close to done it's scary. I'm going through it once more, before I send it to the fabulous Trish, who is going to line-edit it. Then another once over and it's up *gulp*I will need your help prior to this though and I'll post here and on my Facebook page when I need this. I want to get The Arrival back on the free list for a month to (ideally) help get Awakening up in the charts, so I will need people to hit the 'priced lower elsewhere' button on The Arrival's Amazon page and provide a link to Barnes & Noble or Sony. I'll put all the detail up when it's ready : )Better get back to it, once Trish has Awakening I have to work on the blurb and updating the map. I'm rather apprehensive about the blurb, how do you write it without giving it all away ;p I'm going to have to reveal some stuff in it, I guess.

Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon

English - are we speaking the same language?

I'm working through notes that my friend Mustang Sally has made on The Arrival, and wow sometimes the differences between kiwi (NZ) and American slang is hilarious. So I thought I would find some of NZ's really out-there slang for you guys to chuckle at.
Over the ditch (or 'across the ditch) - meaning across the Tasman sea to Aussie (our cuzzies ;p)Bach/hut - holiday homeBuggar - disappointment or an 'oops' moment (like 'buggar, really should have put the handbrake on…')Cuz - Cousin/friend/anyone NZ decides they want to claim ('eh bro, he's my cuz, right?')Dear - expensive ('bloody hell that's dear!')Bloody hell - OMG /WTF /Oh shit - you get the drift ;pExercise books - school work booksFancy - something attractive ( 'Ooo, she's a bit fancy')Flog/nick/pinch - steal ('I flogged a loaf of bread from the store')'Good on you!' - approval of one's actions.Hard yakka - hard workHosing down/raining cats and dogs - raining hardKnackered - sleepy or exhausted (and I used this in The Arrival *lol* without even thinking ;p)Mate - a term for a friend, or when you're greeting a stranger ('g'day mate')G'day - greetings - originally short for 'good day' Oz - AustraliaPong - bad smell ('Whew! That fish pongs!')Ripped off - you paid too much ('that store owner totally ripped me off')Remuera tractor – SUV, 4 wheel drive car only on the city's roads (my absolute pet peeve!)Shake a leg - hurry up ('Oi, shake a leg - we're gonna be late!')Sweet as - no problem ('sure mate, sweet as')Take a hike - go away ('Take a hike you idiot!')Tramping - hikingWet blanket - someone who spoils all the funYonks - a long time ('I haven't seen you for yonks')
And here's a classic Kiwi Advert - excuse the quality, it's rather old and the creatures in the advert are possums.
And for those of you wanting to know how progress is going with Awakening.Well, Mustang Sally, Alex, and Emily, are currently reviewing it (eeee!) and once they get all their thoughts/notes back to me I'll be racing to correct it then get it off to my line editor.And that. Is the. Last person… When I get it back from the wonderful Trish (line editor), I will be onto formatting and then *gulp* it will be available!!!
In the mean time I'm making The Arrival absolutely gleam (including full reformatting, editing, a glossary of main characters and a map) and it will be 'rereleased' on Amazon prior to Awakening coming up. All those of you that have an older copy of The Arrival will receive an e-mail from Amazon (if you bought it from there) and a link so you can re-upload it for free : ) And I will need all of your help when the time comes, to get The Arrival back on the free list.What do I mean by that?Well unfortunately at the present time, Amazon doesn't allow indies to publish books for free. The only way to get your book free is to make sure that it's listed elsewhere (Barnes & Noble, Sony) for free and then get your friends to pop on to the Amazon page and hit the 'I've seen a lower price for this item' button. Then it's just a matter of providing a link to one of the other sites and once Amazon receives enough hits, they change the pricing to $0.Technical and tedious much! But very helpful for promoting your book *grin* So when I get to that stage I will provide all the links, if you don't mind spending a moment of your time doing this. I would sooooo greatly appreciate it!
On a side note, thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my last post. Glenn and I miss our little golden boy lots and really appreciated all your thoughts.



Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon

The hardest decision ever

I can't stop crying. We had to have our beautiful boy put down today. The short and skinny is that he was getting more aggressive towards males, and other dogs. Then last week he deliberately climbed into our neighbors yard. Our neighbors whom have two French Mastiffs. Otis was only 36kg compared to two dogs that I'd hazard were around 50kg each. You may remember he fell into their yard once last year. They only had the one dog at the time and he still got a hiding from that. That however was an accident and last week's one was intentional. We know because he had to rip down a lot of wire mesh and other building materials to get to them. He also had to squeeze through a bunch of spiky trees. In short, he was damn determined to do it.We patched him up and Glenn rebuilt the section of fence and added to it. He only stopped limping on Saturday. Then Glenn rang me at work today to say an animal ranger had found him and he needed urgent medical attention. The ranger also said he was too aggressive for her to get close. So we made the heart breaking, but necessary decision to have him put to sleep. We couldn't protect him from himself any more, and we couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt.It just hurts so much. Otherwise, he was the perfect dog. Always wanting cuddles and following me everywhere for more cuddles. Snuggling next to you at any opportunity. He loved popping balloons and shredding the ends of toilets rolls. He still did his puppy run when you got home and his excited twirl before you fed him. He loved going up the bush and pretending he was a tough bush dog (even though he cried when he got lost). He adored our niece and nephew, and any kids for that matter, and I'll never forget the time they camped out in our lounge. Both dogs took turns watching over the kids (I got up to check on them at 2am ;p). He did the worst farts - period - and had the hardest head known (made me see stars on more than one occasion). His whip like tail drew tears when it caught you across the nose and he never, ever, stopped wagging it. Even when we took him to the vet that last, awful time.I wish so much that we hadn't had to do it. But part of me knew last week when he did it, that this was a possible outcome. His sister is lying beside me, silent for once. We know she knows. I can only be so grateful we had such a fantastic 7+ years with him. He was such a beautiful, cheerful and happy dog. I'm gonna miss him so much.

3am Eureka moment

Do you ever get those? The solution to the problem you've been trying to solve suddenly occurs to you at 3am - when really you'd rather be sleeping. I've figured out where to end Awakening so am racing through the notes from revision two, so I can write the ending. The next person in the revision line will soon be done with The Arrival and she's doing a FANTASTIC job! I'm very, very excited at the new editors I have lined up I know, with no shred of doubt, that both books will be as perfect as poss! *grin* And at the very least, I will be satisfied. It's very scary thinking about how close Dec is and how much I want done by then. Better get back to the books then!Take care all! Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon

Review number 2 is done... but do I have to rewrite the ending?

WOO! Review number two is complete and I'm working on the notes. The only problem is the comment that the end of the book isn't right... Which is concerning because it conveys what I want it to convey but that doesn't necessarily mean the reader reads it that way. So I've asked my fabulous flow editor to have a scan over it and reconsider it with this other person's thoughts. Nothing about writing is straight forward or easy *sigh* I have an insane amount of work to do in far too little time (or so it feels like). At the same time as all this I've re-edited and re-formatted The Arrival and the wonderful Sally Mustang (a blog buddy, no not her real name *grin*) is going through it as well as my friend Alex. Excessive comma usage is being addressed and words I didn't even realise I'd missed (found a few of those in the re-edit *blush*). All this is happening so I can ideally have The Arrival and Awakening in e-book format AND paperback format at the same time. The Arrival is also having a world map added; Oh, and I've changed the name of the world from Sytas, to Gar'nyse - so to prevent any possible trademark/copyright issues; and I'm adding a Glossary of Main characters. So each book in the trilogy will have a glossary with a super brief explanation as to who is who (or what) and each map will include the places mentioned in that book. WHEW! I actually can't stop to really think about how much I need to do, it gives me panic attacks, all I can do is get into it. With sporadic updates here and on Facebook when I get the chance : )


Hope you're all well : )

Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon

Progress on Awakening and help support an Indie Film Maker - Chaz Harris

I'm so excited! I have fully re-written Awakening and it's off in Kerrin's hands now, for edit number two. I have three definite other people to pass it to, before it's *gulp* done. And we're making the most of a dry spell Glenn's having at work, by having an impromptu break. Sure a lack of work is a budget issue, but I've got ten days owing so might as well take lemons and make lemonade : ) In my glorious six days off we'll be walking the dogs, clearing the section (spring is here! Soon BBQ time!) and I'll be ready grammar books as well as working on The Arrival. Only problem being, half of me is seriously tempted to fully re-write it, which I suspect is a very bad idea ;p So I'm going to resist temptation there and instead work on re-formatting it (I think I've finally figured out how to make line breaks in kindle!!!) and adding a glossary of names to the beginning, as well as checking my grammar stuff *grin* Once that's all done, I've format it for Createspace and finally be able to see it in print!




On to the second part of my title is asking for your support to help a local indie film maker, Chaz Harris. He's written and directed a film about a young boy called Max Petersen who is being bullied at school and has an abusive father at home. One day, when playing alone in the woods, he makes a mysterious discovery that will change his life forever.
It's called Broken Glass and has attracted the support of Shine; New Zealandʼs largest single domestic abuse organisation registered as a charity. In 2011, Shine is celebrating 20 years of doing what works to stop domestic abuse. With the issues of bullying and domestic violence at its core, "Broken Glass" is told from a childʼs point of view but contains some quite adult content at times. A similar contrast between ethereal childhood fantasy and a young childʼs harsh reality was also achieved in the film "Panʼs Labyrinth". The aim is to create a story of fantasy realism that revisits a time in filmmaking when audiences were asked to use their imaginations instead of being shown with visual effects.
So help spread the word about this awesome project by sharing this post and/or pop onto the link here and hit the like button! Help spread the word peoples :) 

Take care all!
Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon